BodyTalk and Your Child

This video is an introduction to the BodyTalk system and your child. I have been using this technique with my own patients for many years now. I want to give you some background information as well as some examples in this video that I think all parents need to know.

My goal in making this video is to describe how the evaluation and treatment of your child can be enhanced by using energy medicine and consciousness based methods. This is the type of discussion I have with parents in my own practice, and I want to share some of this perspective with you.

Click below to listen to audio only:

If you’d like to watch more videos on similar topics, go to the video library page on the Principles for Parents website.

If you’d like to find a BodyTalk practitioner in your local area, you can search for one on the International Bodytalk Association’s website at www.bodytalksystem.com

As always, please leave your feedback and comments below.

Spleen Energy and Your Child

Here is an introduction to the concept of spleen energy and your child which comes from the Chinese medicine system. I want to give you some background information as well as some examples in this video that I think all parents need to know.

My goal in making this video is to describe how the evaluation and treatment of your child can be enhanced by using this concept of the spleen energy subcircuit to describe what’s going on with your child and some of the nuances of the particular influence the spleen energy has in young children from birth to around 5 years old. This is the type of discussion I have with parents in my own practice, and I want to share some of this perspective with you.

Click below to listen to audio only:

If you’d like to watch more videos on similar topics, go to the video library page on the Principles for Parents website.

As always, please leave your feedback and comments below.

Three Keys for Parents

The three keys I think all parents should know and use in their daily routines are awareness, context and education in that order. These three topics outline three skills that you can practice in order to benefit your child. They spell out the acronym ‘ACE’, making it easy to remember.

Awareness Context Education

Let’s look at the first one called awareness. There are so many things that remain hidden or below our level of awareness. While it is true we live in a time of hustle and bustle, stress is perceived as par for the course, and kids have daily routines that bounce from here to there, I believe it all comes down to an awareness of what the reality is from your child’s point of view. If we can be aware of the actual perceived feelings, thoughts, visual and auditory cues your child is receiving in realtime, then we have a chance at understanding and helping them to cope with this world we are living in.

The second key is context. I delve into this topic in much more detail when I am conversing with parents in my office but suffice it to say the contextual framework has so much importance I cannot emphasize it enough. In medicine, we have a tendency to zero in on lab values, physical symptoms, and visible parameters. What I want to focus on is the context of your child’s situation. We have to take into account the surrounding environment, family dynamics, school situation, peer group interactions, and a whole host of other categories that make up the context of what your child is experiencing every day. Once we open up this framework and explore these topics, any condition or situation becomes much more understandable to all concerned.

Finally, I want to touch on education. We all know how important education is to kids for their overall growth and development. What I want to remind parents about is the importance of education beyond the classroom. What I mean is, your child has life lessons to learn at various stages and ages during their lives. Since many of these are long term and ongoing topics like developing individuality, self reliance, self confidence and self esteem, and personal interactivity and rapport with others, they tend to get the short end of the stick when it comes to our focus and attention. But by educating ourselves (you and me included) we can be in the best position possible to help your child through their formative and very important growing years. I guess what I’m trying to say is keep learning, exploring, contrasting and comparing what you know to what you don’t know yet. I believe this is the best stance to model for your kids and the nice side effect is it will keep you young at heart and constantly engaged in your child’s daily life, even after they are all grown up and on their own.

So remember these three keys with the acronym ACE: Awareness, Context and Education. I know it will help you as it has helped me to learn new things every day as a holistic physician and pediatrician.

Energy Medicine Book for Parents Published

After the release of my ebook called Energy Medicine Principles for Parents, several people asked if I was considering publishing it as a softcover book. I looked into it and I’m happy to say it is now available in my office, on my website’s online bookstore, and even at New Renaissance Bookstore in Portland, Oregon!

I’d like to say a special thanks to those of you who encouraged me to undertake this project and to those of you who have given me feedback.

I also took the step to make an audio version of the book which is available on 2 CD’s, as some people prefer to listen rather than read. I have some copies of the audio CD’s in my office as well as available to order through my online store here.

I also want to let you know that I recently teamed up with the International BodyTalk Association (IBA) to raise awareness of this energy medicine/consciousness based modality. I have a special page where visitors can buy my ebook and contribute 50% of the proceeds to the IBA to help with the funding for the many projects and good works they are doing throughout the world. Here’s the link to this special page here:
http://www.principlesforparents.com/pfp-and-iba.html

As always, please feel free to give me feedback and comments on my blog or through the contact form on the website.

Thanks,
Peter Hanfileti, MD

Stomachaches in Children

Stomachaches occur in children quite commonly and over the years I have seen many kids with this condition. I have a different perspective on the causative factors that need to be taken into account and I feel this is an important topic to discuss with parents.

In my practice I like to use the saying, “The more information, the better”. What I mean is that we can gain a lot more ground by being open to different systems, interpretations, and models of explanation, rather than just relying on one single description.

If we are evaluating a child with stomachaches, we must address the symptom and condition and try to elucidate the likely causes. However, often there is no discernible cause from a physiologic or anatomic standpoint. Then what do we do? I have stated in other places how I am in agreement with doing testing to make sure there are no obvious or hidden physical problems, like blockages, ulcers, growths, appendicitis, inflammatory bowel disease, etc. In the vast majority of cases, however, none of these are identified as the cause and we are left with no answers.

This is the situation where I believe a broader more holistic and energy derived description and evaluation comes in very handy. On my website I have given more information about the Chinese medicine system and how it addresses conditions found commonly in kids. There are specific groupings which bring together body organs and energy pathways in a coherent and clinically significant way, which I find extremely useful as a physician and I think can be very insightful information for parents to know.

In the Chinese medicine system, the stomach organ and channel are grouped with the large intestine, the lungs and the spleen. These four organs and channels essentially work together on the same circuit, and your child’s energy system must distribute or parcel out its energy in the most efficient and beneficial manner that it can in the context of your child’s daily life and experience.

I have found that when we open up the breadth and scope of our questioning and increase the potential topics of inquiry, our chances of finding the right causative explanation for something like stomachaches goes up dramatically.

So, the bottom line is this: Get an evaluation done to look for treatable and serious problems that could be going on with your child. But don’t stop there if those lab tests and procedures don’t reveal anything. It is important to keep looking for the causes, even if it takes you beyond the physical realm and into the arena where energy becomes the more useful explanation.

In my practice, I use a consciousness based system called BodyTalk which allows us to have access to those things which are only accessible through the energy medicine or consciousness based paradigm. I discuss these concepts in more detail in my ebook called Energy Medicine Principles for Parents and you can read more about the Chinese medicine system and your child on my website called Principles for Parents.

Parenting Tips: Emphasizing Contrast

Another tip I often discuss with parents is the concept of “contrast”. This really refers to the idea that by contrasting what has happened in the past with what is happening now, you are making it easier for your child’s nervous system settings to stay up to date. The main points I like to make with parents regarding this particular tip include the following:

Emphasizing Contrast:

1. This is an important way of demonstrating to your child
the remarkable progress they have already made.

2. It also reinforces the stage of development they are in
which “contrasts” with what came before.

3. Ideally, this leads to the “letting go” of old, outdated, or
no longer relevant settings.

4. Broadcast the right messages to be helpful, knowing
your child is receiving them all the time.

What I mean by this is, you can make statements about what your child used to do in the past, and how now they are able to do something different and probably better and more in keeping with their current age.

For example, as a parent you might say “I remember when you used to have trouble sleeping by yourself, but now that you’re older you can sleep by yourself every night!” Another example might be to say, “I remember when you had to use training wheels on your bike, but now you can ride so well without them because your balance is so good!”

Arc of Change for Your Child

By making these statements, you are describing the arc of change your child has gone through. It is truly remarkable to see the gains your child has made over a short period of time. Why not acknowledge and emphasize this for them? Ideally, this leads to the “letting go” of old, outdated, or no longer relevant settings.

I have had the experience of seeing some kids who have trouble moving forward in their development, not because they or their body and underlying system doesn’t know what to do, but because they feel an inhibition or a reluctance to adapt to the changes required of them based on the feeling of not being able to let go of their more familiar, previously appropriate settings. The shorter way to say this is: some kids don’t deal with changes very well, and it is up to us and especially you to help them move through their period of adjustment.

Parental Broadcasting

Another aspect of this idea of “contrast” I want to mention is the fact that in the energy medicine way of thinking, this information can arrive in your child’s consciousness in more ways than one. Not only can you present this by making statements, but you can also do the same thing by projecting your thoughts and feelings.

This broadcasting of your energy in the form of thoughts, feelings, emotions, and your attitude is happening all the time anyway. Most people are just not aware of this fact. I want to bring this to your attention so that you can make use of it. This is particularly important for the non-verbal or preverbal child, and for those kids that have a heightened level of intuition or energy sensitivity.

Have Confidence Using This New Perspective

As an aside, this understanding comes from an energy medicine perspective, something I did not learn about or have the awareness to see in my practice back when I was a primary care pediatrician. This is one of the reasons why I have such an interest in getting this information out to parents right now.

So have confidence that your child is actively receiving information from you all the time. Now you can make sure they are “receiving” the messages and inputs that you want for them, using techniques like emphasizing contrast for your child as part of your ongoing role as a parent giving them reinforcement and encouragement.

For more tips on other topics and techniques, find out more about my 8 Tips for Parents.

Use Awareness to Help Your Child

I’d like to expand upon this theme of awareness taken from my free ebook called Paradigm Shifting Principles for Parents, which is available as a download on my website called PrinciplesForParents.com.

Awareness is key

I spend a lot of time in my practice emphasizing the importance of awareness. I believe this is the starting point for you, your child, and for me when it comes to beginning the process of helping your child to truly reach their potential.

Going back to the idea that energy has to become our common currency or common denominator, it is true that awareness itself has its own energetic signature or feeling associated with it. This in turn is detectable by your child, no matter what age they are. I find this is detectable by those outside of your family, including me, when interaction is taking place in my practice environment.

This is not surprising when you think about it. We are taught and learn early on, how to key into this awareness state and use it to our advantage and to help us navigate through the world and over the course of our lifetimes.

As the parent in your household, your own awareness of your child’s situation is the predominant factor that your child will key into. This is why it is important to have things squared away in your own mind so that you are not transmitting a sense of insecurity, doubt, despair and the like, to your child if at all possible. Once again, the energy explanation makes this clearer and readily understandable so that we can move forward to solutions for your child.

Age Reciprocal Resonance

Another concept I have written about previously which relates to this topic is something called age reciprocal resonance. This describes the relationship between parents and their children from an energy perspective and brings to our awareness the overlap between the child’s experience and their parent’s experience when they were that age.

This is a wide open, two way street so to speak, and it deserves our undivided attention in real time. The influence of this energetic process can be large or small, depending on the child, the parent, and the family history. I get into more details in my book called “Energy Medicine Principles for Parents”. You may want to read more about what is in the book, or download an excerpt of it that I have made available on my website.

Awareness is the Starting Point

One final thought on awareness I want to impart to you is this: Becoming aware is the starting point in the healing process for you, your child, and your family. When subjects remain in the unconscious or hidden realm, they are very difficult to change or to get a handle on them. By bringing things into your awareness and your child’s awareness, the recognition by itself will jump start and accelerate the process of balancing your child’s situation no matter what it may be.

I have seen this play out many times in my practice, and I have been fortunate to get feedback from parents, in some cases many years later, and their comments have been that a small change in awareness perhaps many years ago resulted in the start of a process which eventually led to understanding and resolution for their child.

I am very grateful for the opportunity I have been given to participate in this process with many parents, kids, and their families. So, work on your own awareness in order to help your child. It just may be the starting point toward helping your child move toward a more balanced state of being, and helping them to get in synch with their own underlying blueprint.

Parenting Tips: Giving Choices

The next tip I want to discuss is giving choices. This is another tip taken from my 8 Tips for Parents.This is a very important concept that really begins from the time a baby is born and can be used throughout childhood and adolescence as part of a holistic pediatric approach to your child.

Giving Choices Accomplishes the Following:
1. Gives your child plenty of opportunities to practice this important skill of decision making.
2. Gives them a sense of identity and individuality through this process.
3. Helps with the long term goal of building self esteem.
4. Lays the foundation, and builds a track record of choices made and their outcomes.
5. Empowers your child and gives you some control at the same time.



All kids need to make choices and learn the difference between making individual decisions and complying with others. You want your kids to have plenty of practice at this so that by the time they reach their teenage years they will be well versed at making good choices.

This gives them a sense of their own identity and individuality. In addition, the consequences of making good choices will reflect on their own self esteem, and the consequences of making bad or poor choices will lead to learning valuable lessons so as not to repeat them again.

This lays the foundation and builds a track record of the choices they have made and their outcomes which is stored in their own memory banks. These choices are what they will refer back to over the course of their whole lives as they live, grow and learn more.

I usually recommend giving choices as early as possible. This serves the dual purpose of giving practice for the child, and it gives them an outlet to exert their own will power. Of course, in reality, you are the one who is giving the list of choices to choose from, but the overall feeling of making a choice can be very empowering for your child. It fulfills an important developmental need and it doesn’t require you to have to exert your own will power over your child’s.

This is an invaluable tactic when you’re trying to navigate through the preschool and early childhood years; when testing the limits of acceptable behavior and your patience are pushed to their maximums.

An example of giving choices might be asking, “Which of these three outfits do you want to wear to school today?” or maybe asking, “Do you want to help me clean up the kitchen, or help me vacuum the living room?”

In other situations, it may be more appropriate to give time windows as choices like, “Do you want to do your homework before dinner or after dinner?” Another one might be “Do you want to do your chores before school or after school?” I’m sure you can think of an infinite number of ways to use this technique. I highly recommend that you use it frequently.

For more information about my approach to holistic pediatrics,
visit this page on the Principles for Parents website called Your Healthy Child.

Energy: A New Term to Help Your Child

Energy is the new “common currency”

Along with this new time that we are living in, it is apparent that we need a new language or new terminology to describe what is happening in as close to realistic terms as possible. Only in this way can we have a meaningful and productive discussion. I propose that we use the term “energy” as our common currency of information exchange.

The previous method of using physical components like chemicals, hormones, anatomical and physiological words to describe what is happening in our physical systems including your child’s body and mind; they have simply become obsolete. Even in the rigorous halls of academia, the descriptions of what is actually going on in our bodies has had to undergo a radical shift in perspective and consequently nomenclature.

I believe we are in a profound period of transition, and it will not be easy to reconcile or even understand the meaning of this change in real time. This is even more compounded by the fact that your child is changing on a daily basis, and the methods and strategies that may have worked yesterday will no longer work or even apply today. In my experience, simply changing to “energy” as our common denominator can make a huge difference in how we evaluate, describe, and come up with strategies to treat your child.

I see kids in my practice for varied reasons and at varying times in their development. I have learned over the years, that the energy medicine system provides a wonderful and comprehensive framework to work within and to better describe what’s happening with your child. Let’s look at an example.

A child presents with new onset allergies to grass and pollens at age 10. This is not that unusual, but the circumstances reveal that this child has not had any major changes in living situation, routine, school, relationships, etc., so the question that must be asked is, “Why is this happening to this child now?”.

I think this is a legitimate question, given the fact that he did not have allergies in the first ten years of life. This is where the energy medicine system comes in very handy. This child experienced a fearful event in the winter, just prior to developing these springtime allergies. What was that event? He needed to have surgery and stayed in the hospital for 5 days.

From an energy perspective, this has tremendous meaning. Do we think this child’s energy system is more likely to pay attention to an event like having surgery and being away from home for 5 days, or is it more likely to keep the immune system in balance so as not to over-react to environmental allergens like grass and pollens as he had done for the previous 10 years?

It turns out that in the Chinese medicine system, the same reservoir of energy required to deal with fear and fear-provoking events is responsible for the health and maintenance of your child’s immune system. In accordance with the principle of balance, a disturbance in the immune system or any other body subsystem can take the form of over-reaction or excess (like allergic responses) or under-performance and deficiency (like having a weakened constitution and predisposition to getting sick and catching colds frequently).

Again, I just want to emphasize the framework and the context which this perspective and viewpoint provides both to the practitioner trying to help the child and family, and to the parent who can appreciate and understand the activity of their child’s system in a new way.

Perhaps the most valuable result of this way of looking at any child’s situation, is that it shows how logical and conservation and preservation oriented the body and energy system really is, as opposed to a random series of events and misfortunes that a child has to endure.

Once we switch to using the child’s energy system and describing energy related functions, now we have moved into the territory of energy medicine and the term “energy” being used in the context of distribution and decision-making by the child’s own intelligent underlying system.

Do you see how the onset of allergies is much easier to comprehend and explain in this context? This allows us to not only address the new symptoms that have appeared for this child, but we can simultaneously focus on the underlying part of his energy system that could use some re-balancing or strengthening right now. It is much easier and better to tackle certain issues sooner rather than later. I think everyone can identify with this concept, once it is put into terms we can understand and agree on.

I believe it is extremely useful to use “energy” as a new medical term and as a systematic way to explain what otherwise would likely never come to the awareness of parents, practitioners, or children themselves. I have been amazed at how useful this way of thinking about symptoms, disorders and diseases is for me as a doctor who works with kids and their families. I encourage parents to learn more about this approach to evaluating what’s going on with their children.

Energy Medicine Principles for Parents Ebook Released

My new ebook called Energy Medicine Principles for Parents was just released this week. I am very grateful to all those who contributed to the completion of this project. Even though it took me a little over a year, I feel very satisfied with the outcome and the final product. I want to say a special thank you to Dr John Veltheim, the founder of the BodyTalk System, who graciously wrote the foreward to the book, and who has paved the way for many people to understand and utilize energy medicine in new and exciting ways.

My goal with this book is to provide parents with an introduction and a working understanding of what I define as energy medicine and why I think it is so important. As a pediatrician and holistic physician, I have spent the better part of the last 10 years devoting myself to learning and putting into practice the energy medicine modalities I mention in the book. They are: The BodyTalk System, acupuncture point stimulation techniques (with and without needles), essential oils used mostly topically, and other supplementation strategies.

Many people wonder why a board certified pediatrician like me would choose to change his practice into one of holistic or alternative methods only. My response is that I do not reject the western medical model or its utility, I simply prefer to practice in such a way that I am able to provide what I think is the best, most comprehensive approach for my patients and families. My opinion is that ideally, all families have access and an openness to all modalities which may be of benefit to them. I generally see my role as an adjunct or a complement to a person’s healthcare team, not as a stand alone substitute.

I believe that the energy medicine paradigm provides an extremely useful framework to discuss and manage those aspects of pediatric symptoms and conditions that are outside of the diagnostic parameters available today. When I practiced primary care pediatrics in the past, there were many times when no diagnosis could be given, and no treatment offered, simply because the child’s condition or presentation was outside of what conventional medicine could categorize and differentiate. This does not mean that conventional approaches are all bad or all wrong, it just means they are incomplete.

With energy as our common currency and as a way to describe and interpret what’s going on with a child and their family, a whole new vista is opened and made accessible and workable to me as a doctor, and to the families I am working with to try and help.

Getting back to the book, there are 4 parts and a final section where parents can get into action right away.
Part 1: Energy Medicine Principles – ten energy medicine principles I think all parents should know about
Part 2: The treatment process and the BodyTalk system
Part 3: Pediatric applications discussed by age range
Part 4: Energy Medicine Synthesis – 3 case studies of different conditions and age groups
The last section is called “What you can do for your child right now!”

If you would like to read a short excerpt from the book, you may download it from my homepage on PrinciplesForParents.com.

If you would like more details about the contents of the book itself and the bonus materials, you may read more about my Energy Medicine Principles for Parents Ebook here.

As always, I welcome your questions or comments on the book or any other topics.

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